Sleepless in Norrisville
by Shadougelover14
Summary: Julian's life hadn't gotten any easier since the defeat of his evil self. His dreams are haunted by the vengeful monster, and he doesn't know how much longer and he can keep up this fight for control. Meanwhile, those around him are growing concerned with his odd behavior.
1. Sleepless Nights

The microwave beeped, signaling it was finished, and Julian moved quickly to retrieve the mug inside. The scent of coffee reached his nose as he held it, filling him with a small amount of hope as he left the kitchen and headed for the living room. There was a slight chill in the air, seeping through the thick socks and large violet nightshirt he wore, and it sent a cold tingle up his spine as he hurried back to the couch. He set the mug on one of the coffee tables, and plopped down onto the large leather sofa positioned in front of the television, filling the room with a bluish light.

Thunder rumbled overhead, coupled with the pitter patter of heavy rain. He was briefly distracted with worry for his parents, who were out late for a business meeting, but it soon passed; they'd traversed through worse weather just fine. A simple storm was nothing.

He had far worse problems to deal with at the moment, namely, staying awake.

It had been two days since his last nightly encounter with his evil self, this one having taken place at a run down version of Mr. Knightfire's Illusionarium, and included possessed props and strange monsters that would scare even Lovecraft. He'd eventually been corralled into a hallway that went on forever, no matter how many turns he made or which direction he went, with the snarling monsters never too far behind. He wasn't sure how long he'd been running through it, before finally collapsing from exhaustion against a wall and allowing himself to be caught.

Ever since, he'd taken to a new tactic of trying to avoid sleep entirely. The first night had been manageable, and a couple cups of coffee the next morning had gotten him through the day. Coffee had become his new best friend these last few days.

The second night though, it was much harder. Not even the distractions he'd set up had been enough; books, a few board games, music kept low enough so as not to disturb his parents, none of it seemed to keep his mind awake. He'd given out somewhere around five, but fortunately it seemed that was short enough to avoid any dreams and nightmares until his alarm went off at six.

Now he was tackling his third night without sleep, and it was even worse. He at least had the house to himself, so he could do more to stimulate his mind and keep it up, but his body was starting to give out on him. His movements were slow and clumsy, and he'd been a laughing stock the other day at school when he'd walked right into a wall. His eyes were struggling to stay open, but the weather wasn't exactly helpful in this case. He'd hoped some coffee and a movie would do the trick.

He put in some old 80's film, grabbed his coffee, and leaned back into the cool leather, lightly sipping on the drink. Surprisingly, he was able to focus, even enjoy some of the monster scenes, despite the cheesiness that was present in most old movies. He fell into a content daze as the time ticked by, and at one point he pondered what else he could do for the evening.

 _Maybe I could do a few climbs up and down the stairs, or reread one of my vampire novels, or…fix a snack…or…do…school…_

He jolted back to alertness, barely catching himself when his eyes slid shut. The mug tumbled from his hands, shattering on the floor and spilling the rest of his coffee. He gave a startled yelp as he drew his feet up to avoid the shards, then let his head fall back with a groan. So much for that…

Grumbling, he scooted to the other end of the couch and got up, heading for the kitchen once more. Best to get it cleaned up before his parents got home. Armed with a broom and towels, he returned and set to work. After disposing of the shattered remains and tossing the towels into the laundry hamper, he returned to the couch. He fell onto it with a sigh, and against his better judgement, stretched out, resting his head against the arm.

 _Just a few minutes…to rest my eyes…just…for a moment…_

Turning onto his side, he let his eyes close, and welcomed the darkness it brought. The TV soon began to fade into unintelligible murmur, and a sense of weightlessness overtook him. He didn't feel panicked this time though, only the desperate need for sleep.

 _Just…a few minutes…_

Within seconds, he was passed out, vaguely hoping he'd be spared from night terrors.

 _Just this once. Please…_

::::::

He wasn't sure what time it was when he regained consciousness. He could still hear the faint rumble of the storm, so it wasn't too early yet; it wasn't supposed to clear up until six the next morning.

The area his head had been resting was replaced with someone's lap, and he felt a hand running through his hair, gentle and comforting. A content sigh escaped him; he'd been desperate for any comfort since this all started, but he'd been too afraid to tell anyone exactly what his nightmares consisted of. He'd be written off as crazy, no doubt, even by the ones who HAD been aware of his evil self. This he was sure of, thus, he'd avoided any further mentions of it.

The hand stilled, resting on his arm, and he faintly heard his name called. Probably Mother, trying to send him up to bed, but he didn't want to move now, when he was at such ease. He mumbled incoherently, fighting to stay in sleep's embrace. He heard his name called again, a bit louder, and his eyes cracked open. His vision was blurred from sleep, and they quickly closed again, desperate to return to slumber.

"Mmm…five…more minutes, Mother…"

Soft laughter answered him, before he felt them lean over and hiss in his ear.

It wasn't Mother.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Julian…"

A few seconds passed before the voice's owner registered, and he snapped awake. He jerked away from the person, scrambling to the other side of the couch and plastering himself to the arm. Ghoulian sat calmly at the other end with a smirk etched on his face.

"What's wrong, Julian, didn't you miss me? I certainly missed _you_ ; the evenings have been far too quiet…"

"N-no, no, NO," Julian cried, and fell back against the sofa with a sob, "please not again…"

"Didn't quite make it through the night this time, did you? I think you only managed to get to midnight. Ah well, you _did_ put in a valiant effort, I'll give you that much; perhaps another cup of coffee might've helped."

Julian didn't respond, instead choosing to hide his face in the sleeves of his shirt. Ghoulian scoffed when he collapsed against the arm of the couch, and soft sobs could be heard.

"I can't take this anymore…" he whimpered, slightly muffled by fabric.

"Please, I can't…so tired, I just want sleep. Why can't you let me do that? Just let me sleep…please, please just let me…"

Laughter answered him, before the weight on the couch shifted as Ghoulian moved closer, and placed a hand on his shoulder, a mockery of comfort.

"I'd love to, Julian, I really would, but you have to meet me halfway, here,"

More quiet sobs followed, and he allowed himself a chuckle.

"You already know what I want, Julian; all it takes to stop this, to finally get the rest you're so desperate for, is three little words…"

Julian hesitated, before peeking out at the other curiously.

"All you need say is, 'I give up', and we can put an end to this."

Almost immediately, Julian shook his head, burrowing into his arms again.

"No, no…never…"

Ghoulian heaved out a sigh, and rolled his eyes as he muttered, "Why are you making this so difficult?"

He paused for a moment, before another smirk took hold.

"Actually, that's a good point; we've already discussed my motives, let's talk about yours, shall we?"

Julian gave a startled cry as he was pulled away from his spot, and forced to meet the other's gaze. Although he'd asked the question, the smirk and gleam in his eyes made it seem he already knew the answer.

"What exactly are you fighting for, here? Tell me, what are you hoping to accomplish?"

Julian stammered for a moment, before managing to get something out.

"Y-you…you'll try to take over the world…I can't just let you—"

"So you want to protect this world? A world that didn't even care when you just vanished from it? Or even notice the drastic differences between us when I showed up to the school? No, it didn't care; so, do you have any other reasons?"

"M…my friends…"

"Oh, your friends? The same friends who didn't think anything was amiss when I refused to hang around them and called them a bunch of fools? The same friends who never even once questioned the change in wardrobe? Not even Theresa asked about it!"

"…I…th-they—"

"Before you spout some other ridiculous reasons, let's see if I can cover the rest of them; Mother and Father? Also didn't question our differences, nor did they question me about being gone for hours at a time. They didn't even panic when I stopped showing up!"

Julian winced, attempting to pull away, but Ghoulian held his arms tightly, preventing escape.

"And the Ninja? Don't even get me started on him. Not once did he ponder why you would be looking for the power ball, or where you might actually be when I told him I wasn't you, per say. I'll wager he spent more time looking for _me_ than he ever did wondering where _you_ were. I even told him where I was from, and still he didn't think to check. So tell me, Julian…"

He leaned closer, relishing the look of terror on Julian's face, mixed with traces of denial.

"…why do you continue to fight me? Why struggle to protect this world when it clearly never did the same for you?"

Julian was silent for a long while; he didn't even move, he simply stared at his darker half. Several thoughts were clearly at odds in his head, trying to reason with each other that the other was wrong. Ghoulian sneered, before releasing him and moving away, bringing his feet up to rest on the table.

Julian quietly drew away, returning to his corner of the couch and pulling his legs into his chest. Small sniffles would occasionally escape him, but otherwise made no other noise. The silence continued for another few minutes, until his small voice finally spoke up.

"Mother doesn't like feet on the table…"

"Well, Mother isn't here right now, is she?"

A small laugh escaped him, though it held the tones of a sob within it.

"I suppose not…you're wrong, though,"

Ghoulian turned to look at him, arching a brow.

"Oh? How so?"

"I know they care about me; my friends, my parents, everyone," Julian stated, slowly getting to his feet, "but I'm sure that's hard for _you_ to understand, since all you seem to care about is yourself!"

Ghoulian scoffed as he stood as well, meeting the sturdy gaze with his own.

"So what if I do? I'm focused on what's important in one's life; self preservation, and power. Anything else is expendable, so long as I get what I want."

"Well then, I have something else to fight for; you want me to give you control? It's _NEVER_ gonna happen!"

Ghoulian's humor vanished, and he stepped closer to match Julian's determined glare with his own steadily angering one.

"I'd tread carefully if I were you…which I am…"

"Or what?! What else could you possibly do to me? If spiting you is the only reason I ever have, then so be it!"

He wasn't sure why he was suddenly snapping at his evil self; maybe it was from exhaustion, or maybe from anger, or both. Whichever it was, he didn't care at this point, he just wanted to unleash as much of this anger as he could, before he lost the nerve. Even with the increasingly furious glare of Ghoulian directly in his face, he continued his rant.

"I don't care if I have to keep this up until the day I _die_! I _won't_ let you _win_!"

He punctuated his declaration with a harsh shove, and Ghoulian fell back with a startled yelp, tripping over the table, and hitting the floor on the other side.

A few seconds passed in silence, save for Julian's heavy breathing as he began to calm down. He actually felt relieved; weeks of torment, three days without sleep, and being unable to talk to anyone about it, all of it had been weighing heavy on his mind. The release of it was beyond refreshing, even if it was only to his evil self.

The relief faded though, when he heard a growl; Ghoulian rose up from behind the table, and pushed himself off the floor. He locked eyes with Julian, who felt his stomach turn to ice as he took a cautious step back. Ghoulian's lip curled, and he slowly began to circle around, causing Julian to retreat further, stumbling back towards the stairs and stammering.

"I-I…um…sh-should I…?"

 _"RUN."_

Squeaking, Julian turned on his heel and bolted for the stairs, clambering up them two at a time. He heard a snarl from behind, and caught a brief glance of a large form lumbering towards the stairs. He reached the second floor, and raced for his bedroom, reaching it just as a loud crash sounded from behind. Looking back, the terrifying blue monster had broken through the banisters lining the stairway, and was eyeing him with cold yellow eyes before releasing a loud roar.

Julian yelped as he burst through the door, and quickly slammed it shut again, locking it despite how futile he knew it was. He took in the room as he pressed against the door, trying to figure out where would be best to hide. But then again, how could he hide when Ghoulian knew the room just as well as he did?

A hard slam against the door from the other side got him moving, and he scrambled towards his closet. It was a decently sized walk-in, with clothes hanging on either side, and he quickly shut the door as he entered. He curled himself up in the far corner, and waited; he knew the door wouldn't hold, and he knew it wouldn't take long for Ghoulian to find him. It was only a matter of time…

Not long after, he heard the bedroom door finally give, and a loud snarl as Ghoulian entered the room. Loud breathing coupled with heavy footfalls, traversing the room at a slow pace.

 **"JULIAN…"**

The garbled voice sent a chill down his spine, and he pressed further into his corner.

 **"COME OOUUT…"**

He heard a loud crash across the room; most likely his bed being thrown over. More steps lumbered through the room, followed by a frustrated growl.

 **"GET OUT HERE AND FACE ME! YOU WERE** ** _SO_** **SURE OF YOURSELF EARLIER!"**

The shout was followed with unnerving silence; Julian listened carefully, but he couldn't hear the heavy steps or harsh breaths. He knew the other hadn't given up, not with that much anger, and he should have been able to hear, so where…?

The closet door snapped into pieces as a large fist broke through it, startling a shriek out of Julian. Ghoulian's monstrous form towered in the doorway, too large to fit through, and preventing any hopes of escape. Their eyes met, and a crooked sneer split Ghoulian's face, before he contorted and shrank in size. His large form was replaced with his human one, and approached Julian as the goth stared up at him with resignation.

However, Ghoulian merely gave a stiff chuckle, and crouched beside him.

"You know," he said, reaching forward to take hold of Julian's wrist and pull it towards him. It wasn't necessarily a tight grip, but it was firm enough to get the point across.

"downstairs, you asked what else I could do. Well, it's a funny thing about this whole 'dream' setting…"

His hand was turned over, and a sharp nail lightly traced along his palm. Julian tensed, and hesitantly looked up at the other, who met his timid gaze with an eerily cheerful demeanor.

"See, there are no real world consequences. For example, I could do… _THIS_!"

The nail suddenly dug into his skin, and slashed across his palm, leaving a thin but deep gash in his hand. He let out a shriek as he yanked his hand away, holding it close to his chest and wincing at the stinging sensations that came from it. He chanced a look at Ghoulian, who sported that same sneer that almost seemed to never leave his face.

"And when you wake up, whenever that may be, viola, no damage. So, I suppose in answer to your question…I can do worse, _so much worse_ …"

Julian gave a whimper, attempting to retreat to the other side of the closet, but Ghoulian was faster; he snatched him by the hair and hauled him off the floor, sneering at his pained cries.

"So, the next question is, how far are you going to push me, Julian? How badly do I have to hurt you before you stop this useless struggling?"

Another harsh yank forced Julian to meet his eyes, and he felt immense satisfaction at the sight of a new wave of tears.

"We both know I can be quite _nasty_ when I wish, so the longer this takes, the worse this is going to get. Either you submit to me, or I shatter you beyond the point of recovery, which, given how you've acted tonight, isn't too far off."

With that, he released Julian, flinging him to the floor. He stalked past Julian as he shakily pushed himself onto this knees, and paused at the crumbled remains of the door.

"I'll give you one last chance to agree to my offer; and, I suggest you think it over carefully this time. Let me have control, and you can get all the sleep you want…and when I regain my own body, I'll even refrain from throwing you into the Land of Shadows this time. All you need to do is say yes…"

Julian was silent for several minutes, face obscured by his bangs. His hands were clenched into tight fists, despite the sharp pain it caused his hand, and a slight tremor ran through him before he finally looked up. His face was determined, but his eyes betrayed the terror he was feeling inside as he murmured,

"N-no…"

Ghoulian's smirk fell, and was replaced by an irritated frown.

"So be it…" he grumbled. Before Julian could even get another word out, a coat tail shot out and wrapped around him. A yelp was all he could give as he was pulled from the floor and flung through the opening.

He hit the wooden panel floor with a grunt, sliding across it until he hit the opposing wall. Pain shot through him upon contact, and he gave a moan as he rolled onto his side. He heard soft growling, causing him to look back at Ghoulian. His monstrous form had taken his place, and was lumbering towards him, sharp teeth bared and eyes aglow with rage.

He scrambled into a sitting position, pressing against the wall as a whimper bubbled up from his tight chest. Ghoulian came to a stop before him, towering over the shivering boy, and slowly lowered himself until they were face to face. Julian turned his head away, bracing himself for whatever was to come. Hot breath hit him full force, along with some flecks of spit, and he could feel the small rush of wind from a large arm being lifted.

He waited several seconds for the blow, but it never came. He chanced a peek, and saw Ghoulian had paused mid swing, and was glancing up at something unseen. A few seconds ticked by, before he growled to himself and returned his eyes to Julian. Quick as a pouncing snake, his hand shot out and snagged Julian's leg, dragging him away from the wall as he screeched in panic.

"What're you doing?! Let go of me-!"

A snarl cut him off as Ghoulian crouched over him, and lifted his free hand.

 **"WE'LL CONTINUE THIS TOMORROW…"**

He then brought his fist down, and all Julian could do was shriek as it came down on his head.

His eyes snapped open to the darkened living room, and the first thing he noticed was a shadowy figure standing over him. He jerked up with a yelp, but his head collided with the person beside him. Both gave startled cries, and Julian fell back to the couch holding his head while the other stumbled back and took a seat on the coffee table.

"Oww…yeesh, kiddo, didn't mean to scare ya."

The familiar voice was a welcomed one; a small light came on, emitted from a cell phone, and revealed the slightly pained face of his father.

"O-oh…sorry, Father…"

Alfred gave a snicker as he rubbed at his nose, and set his phone on the table beside him.

"Don't worry about it, bud; probably shouldn't have been hanging over ya like some shadowy ghost." he said, waving his hands in an attempt to be creepy. Julian giggled at his antics, before he gave a yawn.

"You better head up to your real bed, Jules. I'm sure it'll be far more comfy."

Julian nodded, and both headed for the stairs. As he was passing the door to his parents room, his mother came out, looking slightly startled.

"Oh, there you two are; I heard some screams downstairs."

"Nothin' to worry about, hon, just displaying my well-known IQ by scaring our kid awake…and getting my nose smashed."

Marilyn smirked as she leaned on the doorframe.

"Well, serves you right. Never wake a sleeping teenager unless you're prepared for retaliation."

Alfred gave a grin, shrugging as Julian laughed quietly. However, his mother soon fixed him with a stare he'd come to recognize when he'd done something he shouldn't.

"As for you, young man, what have I said about late night movies on school nights?"

"Sorry, Mother…I was gonna go to bed after, but…I fell asleep."

She snorted a bit, and ruffled his already disheveled hair.

"That's alright; it's just nice to see you're getting sleep again."

"No kiddin', it took me three tries to wake you up," Alfred added, "musta been really out of it. It's been what, three days without nightmares?"

Julian's mood, which had been steadily rising, suddenly dropped again. He'd almost forgotten about that…

Struggling to keep his content face, he gave a nod, before quickly faking yawn.

"I think I'll return to that, if I may. Good night…"

"Night, kiddo, see ya tomorrow."

Before he could move away, Marilyn pulled him into a hug, and planted a kiss on his head.

"Good night, my precious jewel, sweet dreams…"

He returned the hug tightly, before reluctantly moving away and heading for his own room. He entered and closed the door as calmly as he could, and slumped against the door. He felt bad for lying to them, but he couldn't bare to worry them. It's not like they could help anyway; even if they would believe the situation, what could they possibly do to stop Ghoulian?

He heaved a sigh as he moved towards his desk, dropping into the seat quietly and turning on his desk lamp. He really wanted to return to sleep, but…he also didn't want to chance another nightmare with Ghoulian. Even if he'd said tomorrow, Julian wouldn't put it past him to go back on that word. He was more than willing to use physical violence, so lying was nothing to him.

His hand twinged from memory, and he turned it over to inspect his palm. There was no sign of any injury, not even the slightest hint of a scratch. That much was true at least…

He glanced at his bed, debating for a bit, before shaking his head.

 _No, not again._

He pulled a book out of one of the drawers beside him, and opened to the first page with a sigh. Perhaps Dracula could keep him company until morning….

As it turned out, Dracula only kept him company for ten minutes.

::::

His school alarm jolted him awake, lurching off his desk with a start. Had he actually slept through the rest of the night?

The left half of his face was numb, and the pages of his book were slightly damp from drool. Both were signs that he had indeed gotten a few hours of uninterrupted rest; the first time in weeks. A sense of relief overcame him, and he briefly glanced at the clock—and did a double take. It read 6:45; he was running far behind his usual schedule, he should've been having breakfast downstairs by now. He must've slept through the first few rings.

He leapt from the chair and rushed for the bathroom, grabbing some clothes from the closet along the way. He'd need to take a shower, along side the rest of his usual routines.

Hopefully he'd have time for coffee. He was gonna need a lot of it to get through today; and even more to get through tonight. There was no way he could fall asleep again, not after last night. If Ghoulian had allowed him the meager hours of rest, then he was definitely holding to his statement of making life a living hell for him tonight…or at least, more than his life already was.

He had to stay awake.

He _had_ to.

:::::::::::


	2. A New Plan

The bus ride was mostly a blur; he was pretty sure he'd blacked out for a few minutes, as one moment they were on the corner of his street, the next they were halfway to the school. Fortunately, no nightmares bothered him for however long he'd been out.

As he stumbled his way out of the bus, he heard his name called, and he turned to see Theresa maneuvering through the crowd toward him. Hers was a welcomed face, especially after last night's round with Ghoulian, so he happily smiled as he moved in her direction.

"Mornin' Jules," she greeted as she stopped beside him, "how are ya doing?"

"I'm doing…fine, and you?"

Not seeming to notice his falter, Theresa replied, apparently more chipper than she usually was.

"Doing great! We had early morning practice today since our coach is going out of town, so I am PUMPED! I actually can't wait for gym today!"

Julian gave a small chuckle as he said, "Sounds lovely; think you can spare a cup of that energy?"

Theresa laughed as she playful shoved him, and started walking towards the entrance. Julian quickly followed, laughing it off as well, but inwardly he could feel the pangs of envy. Here he was barely making it through the ride to school, and Theresa was practically oozing energy.

He shook his head, and focused on keeping up with her.

 _No, this is a new day. Just focus on getting through it, and acting normal._

He and Theresa made their way to the cafeteria, grabbing some muffins and juice for a snack, and took seats at their usual table. Theresa was quick to devour hers as she flipped through a sports magazine, while Julian slowly nibbled away, idly tracing patterns on the table with his finger.

"So I was thinking about spicing up our routine; which sounds cooler, tossing my baton, doing a few spins, and catching it, or twirling the baton a few times, then toss it, and catch it while doing a split?"

"Splits are cool…"

"Oh, and maybe add in some music from Swan Lake! It would go great with my routine!"

"That sounds nice…"

Theresa paused in her eating, glancing at him with a raised brow.

"Hey, Jules, you okay?"

He looked up, noticing her worried frown, and quickly plastered on a grin.

"Y-yes, I'm fine, just a little tired is all."

"Are you sure that's all? You've been acting kinda weird lately, I mean, you _walked_ into a _wall_ the other day."

Julian's face flushed pink at the memory, and he took another bite of his muffin.

"Listen, if something's going on, you can tell me; you know that, right?"

"Yes…but it's nothing, really. I've…just been…rereading the Blood Moon series, and you know how hard that is to put down. I think it was midnight by the time I passed out last night."

Theresa studied him for a minute, before sighing and shaking her head.

"Yeah, it's a good series," she said, "and if you ever want to talk about it, I'll be waiting."

Julian quirked his brow at her strange remark. She merely gave him a knowing smile, and returned to her magazine. He frowned, but shrugged it off and continued eating.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The day continued to drag on for Julian, with each class becoming blurrier by the hour. When last period finally rolled around, he was the last student through the door, and the bell rang as he trudged towards his desk in the second to last row. He passed Randy along the way, who gave him a quick glance as he dropped into his seat. Julian didn't meet it though, instead keeping his gaze low as he pulled out his history book.

 _Just one more…one last class…_

He sighed tiredly as the teacher stood from his chair, and rubbed at his eyes carefully to avoid smearing his eye liner. He could make it; then, he'd stop at the convenience store on the way home and grab a few Monsterz. _That_ should keep him awake for at least a few hours tonight.

He just had to make it through this.

"Alright, class," Mr. Allen announced, "let's pick up where we left off with the second World War. Turn to page 167, and we'll begin our notes for the day…"

With little interest, Julian did as he instructed, and the class dragged along. Mr. Allen spoke, but what he was saying didn't register, and Julian ended up just copying what was on the projected notes instead. He'd glance up at the clock every once and a while, which seemed to be particularly slow today.

"…and it was after the tragedy of Pearl Harbor…..there was much controversy about the use of such a weapon, but times were desperate and….."

The lecture was little more than a murmur, and Julian finally had to set his pencil down and hold his head. This was bordering on impossible. His eyes were barely staying open, and constantly struggling to stay closed with every blink.

 _I just…need a few seconds to rest them…_ he thought as he reluctantly allowed them to slip closed, _just…a few, then back to work._

The muffled voice grew even more faint, until there was practically no sound at all, not even the smaller ones of the surrounding students. He felt his head tilt forward in the yearn for sleep, and he quickly shook himself back to full awareness.

 _No, no, mustn't sleep…need to just focus on school…_

He looked up to resume his note taking, and—

Nothing, there was no teacher, no projector, and upon looking around himself, he found that even the entire student body had up and vanished. There were no traces that anyone had ever been in the room at all; even his own supplies had gone.

"Wh…what?"

Had he slept through class? But then why wouldn't anyone wake him up, and why would his stuff be gone?

 _No, the bell would've woken me up…what's going on?_

Suddenly, the ground gave a violent shudder, and the carpeted floor broke open around him. Yellow tendrils shot out of the cracks, and they let out screeches from their mouth-like tips.

Julian barely got a startled gasp out before they ensnared him, binding him tightly to the chair.

"L-let me go!"

Despite his struggling, they remained, and as he got a better look at them, he realized he recognized the strange tendrils to be from the Land of Shadows. But…but that meant that he was—

As he put the pieces together, hands suddenly reached from behind and rested themselves on his shoulders. A whimper slipped out as the other gave a soft laugh.

"It's not a good idea to doze off during class,"

The hands removed themselves, and Ghoulian strode into view, wearing a calm smirk as he took a seat on Julian's desk.

"You might miss something important."

"Y-you can't be here! Not at school, you can't do this to me at school!"

"Relax, Julian, I'm not here to torment you."

"Then…why are you…?"

"Well, I saw you sleeping, and at first I was just going to leave you be; but, then I thought, why not give you another chance to make things easier for yourself? I was even generous and gave you a few hours last night to think things over."

"And the answer's still no!"

Ghoulian rolled his eyes in exasperation, and stood from his seat.

"At least take a minute to—"

"No, no, a thousand times no! I don't care what you threaten me with! I'm not-!"

The desk was suddenly flung into the side wall, leaving nothing between them as Ghoulian leered in his face. Julian pressed back as far as he was allowed, and the tendrils hissed softly behind him.

"I don't think you're grasping what exactly this weekend will entail," Ghoulian growled, "we have two days where you'll have nothing to keep you busy; no school, Mother and Father will be at work, and I highly doubt you'll have the urge to take any excursions. So there is literally nothing standing between you and the clutches of sleep…"

His lips parted into a sinister grin, and his voice dropped to a whisper.

"And we have allweekend to _play_ …"

Julian felt his insides squirm at his tone, but he managed to give a retort.

"I'm not…not letting you win. Even if you do get free, it's not going to be because of me!"

Ghoulian eyed him for a moment, before giving a tight smirk. He took a firm hold of Julian's jaw, and leaned further in, close enough for Julian to feel his breath wafting against his face.

"You know, I'm actually enjoying this newly formed backbone of yours,"

He moved his free hand behind Julian's head, and Julian yelped as it grabbed a handful of hair and yanked his head back.

" _I can't wait to snap it like a twig."_

With that, Ghoulian pulled away, and turned towards the front of the room.

"Well, I gave you a fair chance, but since you won't take it, I guess we'll continue as planned then."

He glanced back at Julian with a content grin.

"See you tonight."

He snapped his fingers, and everything went black.

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Julian jerked awake with a startled gasp, and he felt several eyes land on him. He sheepishly looked around him, and was met with varying looks of surprise, concern, and humor. Mostly humor.

He felt his face heat up, but the bell rang before anyone could dwell on it further. The students were quick to pack up their things, and rush out of the room. Julian was slower to move, shoving his belongings into his bag, and trudged towards the door.

"Julian?"

He glanced back to see Mr. Allen beckoning him over.

"A moment please?"

He turned back, and approached the desk with a sigh.

"Yes, Mr. Allen?"

"I noticed you were a bit distracted by your eyelids today."

Julian blushed as he fidgeted with his hands.

"Um…yes, I…"

"And from what I've heard from your other teachers, mine's not the only class you've been having issues in these last few weeks. Is something going on?"

"Oh, no, I've just been…staying up late, is all. Not getting enough sleep, you know. I'm fine though, honest."

"Are you sure? Julian, if something's wrong, you can talk to a counselor."

"No, no, everything's fine, I've just been lousy with sleep. I'll be better on Monday, a-and I'll get the notes from someone in class."

The man sighed as he shook his head.

"Alright, if you say so; you can take off then."

Julian made for the door again, but as he exited, Mr. Allen called one last time.

"And Julian, take care of yourself, okay? Hate for anything to happen to one of my best students."

He shot back a small smile, and finally left the room.

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"I'm telling you, something weird's goin' on with Julian." Randy said as he and Howard made their way down a hall.

"And this just in, the sky is blue," Howard stated with a roll of his eyes, "in case you haven't noticed, Cunningham, Julian has _always_ been weird. How exactly has today been any different than our entire lives?"

They came to a stop at their lockers, and Randy gave Howard an annoyed stare.

"Not just today, he's been acting weird the last few days; remember Tuesday?"

"Oh yeah, when he ran into a wall? That was hilarious!"

It was Randy's turn to roll his eyes as his buddy laughed at the memory. Both shoved their remaining items into their bags, and began heading for the front of the school.

"I tried talking to him yesterday but he just kept brushing it off and changing the subject. Seemed really jittery too…"

"You know, I don't really care if Weirdo McGotherson is being even more Weirdo than usual. Now, we hittin' the Game Hole or what?"

Randy sighed as they crossed the large entry area, and pushed out the front doors.

"Yeah, yeah, fine…"

 _Something's going on with Julian, I know it…_

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Julian heaved a sigh as he opened his locker, and shoved his textbooks into it. Well _that_ had been embarrassing…

He'd hoped that school would be the one place he wouldn't have to worry about Ghoulian harassing him. After all, he surely wanted to remain a secret, lest the Ninja catch wind of him; it had been one of Julian's small comforts.

He was running short on those, now.

As he shut the door, his phone suddenly rang. The screen displayed his mother's photo, and he quickly answered.

"Hello?"

" _Hi sweetie, how was school?"_

"It was fine," he lied, and began walking down the hall, "typical Friday: not over fast enough. Is something wrong?"

" _No, well…sort of. Your father and I have to go out of town for the weekend. McFist Industries is having a convention to encourage new job applicants, and they'd prefer to have us at the ready instead of driving back and forth each day."_

Julian felt his stomach drop, and he came to a halt beside another row of lockers.

"Oh, okay…"

" _We'd love to take you, but you'd be by yourself most of the day, and there aren't many shops or anything close enough for you to go to. We figured at least if you stay home, you'd have your friends to hang out with."_

He leaned back against the lockers heavily, and fought down his rising panic as he responded.

"That's alright, Mother, you and Father go on ahead. I'll be fine for a few days."

 _Don't leave, please don't leave, don't leave me alone with him, I_ _ **can't**_ _be alone with him! Not for three days-!_

" _Are you sure? You won't get too lonely?"_

"Not at all, I could always call…Theresa…"

He trailed off as an idea suddenly popped into his head. He assumed Ghoulian wouldn't try anything with others around…if he had his friends over all weekend, then…maybe, maybe he could actually avoid whatever sick games Ghoulian had come up with. Maybe…even get some honest to cheese _sleep_ …

" _Julian? Sweetie, are you still there?"_

"Y-yes, I'm here. Actually, I was going to ask if Theresa and the others could sleep over this weekend, if it was alright with you and Father."

" _Of course, honey, they're always welcome! As long as their parents say yes, it's fine with us."_

"Alright, thank you Mother!"

" _And no staying up past eleven! Even if it's the weekend you all need a good night's sleep!_ "

"Yes, Mother…"

" _Okay, sweetie, you all have fun, then. We'll see you Sunday evening; I love you!"_

He felt a lump in his throat, but he swallowed it as he responded in a small voice.

"I love you too, Mother, bye."

He hung up, then quickly dialed Theresa's number, and waited for her to answer.

"Hello? Hi Theresa, where are you at? …okay, good, listen, I have a fun idea. How about a Klub slumber party this weekend? Mother and Father are out of town, so we'd have the whole house to ourselves…okay, sounds like a plan! See you later!"

He hung up once more, and let his head fall back against the lockers with a sigh.

 _I really hope this works…_

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End file.
